OMG! Finding a Job Takes Effort.. Who Knew?!?

These past couple weeks I’ve noticed a lot of my friends have started to scramble for jobs as summer is fast approaching. I know because my Facebook update stream is overwhelmed with job search updates. Too bad it’s usually stuff like

“my exciting job search is starting to really suck!”

and

“does anyone have a job for me, like is it seriously this hard to find a job?”.

I’m sorry to burst everyone’s bubble, but it was NEVER easy to find a job. Even in the best of times, there was still tons of competition, you still have to submit resumes and cover letters, and you still have to go through a full interview process. The problem is that people that are newly entering the job force think it’s only a NOW thing and not a normal job thing. It’s not. Jobs are always competitive. Finding a job is never easy. And no one is going to do it for you. So instead of wining about it and saying how sad it is to not have a job, then go out and find a job. Do more then search Craigslist for 15 minutes and submit your resume to 3 different places. OMG 3 different places didn’t respond, the job market is horrible! O please, who knew that you had to work hard to get something? I know, what a crazy concept, right? Here I’ll even give you some job search tips:

1)    Create a list of 30 companies that you’re interested in.

2)    Search www.LinkedIn.com and find employees, managers, and HR personnel of those companies.

3)    Write a well-crafted cover letter and resume that introduces yourself, your background, and your interests

4)    Either send LinkedIn messages, find their e-mail online (Google it), or find their Facebook page and send them a message that way.

5)    In ever e-mail and message you send out, tell them the job that you’re interested in (whether it’s listed as open on their careers page or not) and ask 2 things 1) if their company has that job and 2) if not, do they know any companies that have that job.

That’s just another means of finding potential jobs. Using Craigslist, Monster, Indeed, and all the other job posting sites are useful, but they should only be one part of the job search, not the only part.

Hopefully Gen Y will snap out of it and realize that finding a job takes effort and will stop hoping that everything will come to them easy, because it doesn’t. Nothing in life is easy and nothing will come to you if you just sit and wait for it. You have to know what you want and go out and get it. Otherwise, be quiet and stop complaining.

Disclaimer: I know there are a lot of people that are trying really hard to find a job and haven’t found anything, but those aren’t the people I’m referring to. I’m referring to the people that say it’s a bad job market but 1) have no reference to other times and 2) haven’t tried hard enough to know even if they do have reference to other times.

An Acronym for Generation Y

Here is an acronym that I created in order to help identify the mentality of Gen Y. Some of these can be viewed in a positive or negative light, but if there was a way to define a generation then most of these characteristics would align with Gen Y.

Globally Conscious – The global environment that we have grown up in has made us all highly aware of other societies and cultures.

Energetic and Enthusiastic – There’s a strong sense of passion that is put into everything we do. Whether its video games, work, school, or anything else - we commit ourselves and put everything we have into it.

eNtreprenurial – In a work environment, we want to have the autonomy and ability to make a difference. The “do what I tell you” approach of generations past isn’t effective.

Early Adopters – Due to our consumer mentality, we want to be the first to try something. We want something right when it comes out, not a year later.

Recognition – There’s a reason that Gen Y is also called the “Trophy Generation”. We love awards and trophies and even a simple pat on the back can make a huge difference.

Altruistic – Social welfare is very important to us and we are more willing to take volunteer and community service jobs so we can help others.

Technologically Advanced and Dependent – We’ve grown up using technology from day 1. It’s hard to get through an entire day without the use of any sort of technology.

Individualistic – Probably do to our parents over parenting, we have a very strong sense of self. I am the best and I can do it all aren’t uncommon thoughts.

Optimistic and Idealistic – We want to change the world and we truly think we can do so.

New mentality – We want a new way of doing things. The way of the past is old news to us and we have no problem initiating the new changes necessary.

Youtube, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, etc – At the end of the day, it’s the creation and mass adoption of these social networking sites that will end up defining Generation Y.

What do you think? Are there ones that I’m completely missing or do these pretty much hit the nail on the head?

How Important is Company Culture to Gen Y?

The other day, I was talking to one of my good friends who was excitedly telling me about her amazing internship that she got this summer. She talked briefly about what the company does and what she’s gonna do there, then she went into a 10 min rant about how employees are allowed to wear casual clothes to work, how they go to happy hour regularly, and how they have a lax scheduled time of work. It was as if the company didn’t matter, the position didn’t matter, but the only thing that did matter was the environment that she would be working in. She absolutely loved the fact that you could wear casual clothes; she talked about it like it was some sort of revolutionary concept. As we all know, it’s not, and many companies are starting to initiate these little changes in order to attract new talent. And at the end of the day, it’s these little details that will make or break a job opportunity for a Gen Yer.

The fact is that if I want to get into sales, then I can join 1001 different companies. If I want to code java, I can do it at a plethora of companies. If I want to do advertising, I can do it at thousands of different companies. But which one would be I really love working at? Which company has the people that I will love to hang out with outside of work? Where will I feel comfortable and relaxed and yet still feel motivated enough to work hard? It’s these types of questions that are defining the roles that Gen Yers are taking, and not the “what does the company do?”, “What’s my job description?”, and “What’s my career path?” questions.

And personally, I think that this is a much better way of looking at job opportunities than the way it was looked at in the past. Life’s too short to sit in a cubicle (unless you want to) and waste away your life not enjoying what you’re doing or the people that you’re doing it with. That doesn’t mean that the job has to be perfect and the environment has to be amazing, because obviously it won’t be all of the time, but it is something that should be a key focus of any job search. If you think that you wouldn’t fit into an environment and that the culture isn’t in line with what you’re looking for, then don’t waste your time. It’s better to be patient and find a place that you feel comfortable working at then forcing yourself into a situation that isn’t right for you.

Realistically, it’s gotten to the point that most job descriptions read the same anyway and the only way to differentiate between companies is by the culture that they’ve created. If you thrive off competition, then join a company that has a lot of bonuses and incentives. If you thrive off collaboration, then join a company that emphasizes team-work and group effort. If you know yourself and your personality and you focus on finding a company that matches those characteristics, then you will feel that much more satisfied with the company that you decide to go with.

Be Prepared For The Unexpected

Let me start off this post by telling a story. It’s a poker story, so if you don’t understand the basics of poker then this might not make sense, but I’ll try to give the cliff-notes version of it. Basically, I had a very good starting hand, pocket Q’s, and the flop came AAQ, giving me a full-house, a very good hand. I got all my money into the pot, with another person that called my hand. I could not have played the hand any better or have gotten any more value out of my hand. Unfortunately, it didn’t matter. He had AJ, which gave him trip Aces and which gave me the best hand… until the turn came, which was another ace, the only ace in the deck, giving him Quad Aces. I could not have played my hand any better, yet I still lost.

Let me give you another scenario. If you watched the Kentucky Derby this weekend or heard about it, then you know what I’m talking about. If you didn’t, then let me tell you. A horse that had one of the lowest chances of winning, 1/50, came back in the last seconds to win the horse. Almost no one could have predicted it or planned for it, yet it happened.

Now both of these cases are gambling, but the same idea can be brought to anything in life. Career planning, financial planning, family planning, whatever else. Sometimes things happen that are just outside of your control. Rather than being in shock when it happens (because we all know that it’s going to happen), the best thing you can do is to minimize the blow when it does happen. Here are some ways to do that:

1)    Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

Some people might disagree, but putting all your eggs in one basket is never really the smart choice. I’m a risk-taker and even I realize the obvious negatives of doing this. You can have everything planned out to the T, but if one little random unexpected thing happens, you’re in a very bad situation.

2)    Understand the possibilities of what could happen.

Although it might not be likely to happen, know everything that COULD happen. Even if it’s the smallest of chances that it will happen, if you think about it before then you won’t be as surprised when it actually does happen.

3)    Have a backup plan.

If you know what COULD happen, then you can think about what you would do if one of those things happens. If you are able to assess the potential possibilities, then create alternatives if those situations happen, then you’ll be in good shape.

4)    Expect the unexpected.

No matter what, expect that the unexpected will occur. If you think that those random, unplanned things will happen, then when they do happen, you won’t be surprised.

You can apply these steps to almost any scenario in which you’re planning something. It could be planning your career, playing poker, working on a school/work project, etc, etc. At the end of the day, Murphy’s Law will still hold true and anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. The best thing you can do is prepare for it.